1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to the field of interactive simulators. More particularly, the invention relates to a modular, interactive, reconfigurable simulation system based on a distributed state machine architecture.
2. Prior Art
Video arcade games which simulate the operation of vehicles, such as race cars or aircraft, have become extremely popular. The popularity of the games has led to the development of increasingly sophisticated simulation systems, both for single players and for multiple players. One type of multiple-player system simulates an automobile race. Players sit in individual simulated cockpits and are presented with a display depicting a virtual environment which contains the simulated vehicles of all other players. Each player's simulated vehicle responds to his or her control inputs in a realistic manner. Furthermore, the simulated vehicles interact with one another according to physical principles if two or more vehicles attempt to occupy overlapping volumes of simulated space.
Another example of a prior art multi-player simulator system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,299,810. This system has a pair of stations for players to "drive" respective simulated vehicles through a simulated space and to fire a simulated gun at the other player's vehicle. Each user sits in front a video monitor and each monitor is electrically connected to a computer. Each computer has a "map" of a simulated space stored in electronic memory and the two computers are linked through a common RAM. The computers continually access the common RAM to determine whether a shot has been fired by the other player and, if so, to compute whether or not the shot has "hit" the associated vehicle.
Reconfigurability
Heretofore, multi-player simulation systems have been purpose-built for the specific simulated experience desired. Thus, a system for simulating an automobile race is typically designed for that application alone and cannot be reconfigured to simulate a different experience. Prior art multi-player simulation systems are, in effect "hard-wired" for a particular experience. Although it is relatively easy to reconfigure a racing simulator to simulate different tracks, such a simulator cannot be reconfigured to simulate, for example, a dogfight scenario involving fighter aircraft.
It is, of course, well-known that the public's interest is often transient. Trends and fads come and go. Therefore, it would be desirable to provide a multi-player simulation system with a modular architecture that can be easily reconfigured to simulate any of a variety of experiences. Such a simulation system could therefore take advantage of changing public interests.
Modularity
It is also widely recognized that electronic computer technology continues to improve at a rapid pace. More's "Law"--a commonly used estimator of this advance --says that computer capabilities double and costs halve approximately every 18 months. Therefore, purpose built systems quickly become obsolete, as higher performance components that cannot be accommodated in the system become widely available. Buyers of purpose built systems, thus, find themselves required to either live with systems that are no longer competitive or make the large capital investment to replace the entire system with a more advanced simulator. The capability to inexpensively insert advanced technology components into existing simulators would extend the life of such systems and greatly enhance the return on initial and incremental capital investment.
Immersive Mosaic Visual Display
Psychologists have noted that the suspension of disbelief in the reality of a synthetic experience is facilitated by the broadening of the visual environment to include peripheral visual cues. In general, the wider the active visual surround, the more "immersive" a simulation becomes. Wide field of view displays of computer generated imagery demand spatial resolution on the order of 3-4 arc-minutes per pixel or better in order to be perceived as real. To achieve this pixel density for an image of substantial visual angle, the simulation must either generate a very high resolution image which is then displayed by a means that wraps this picture around the viewer, or create multiple complimentary images of small resolution and blend them together to create a seamless mosaic of smaller pictures. The latter approach generally offers the advantage of employing less expensive projection equipment, obviates the need for exotic projection optics, and usually provides more brightness on the screen.
To support seamless multiple channel projection, a technique must be used to "blend" adjacent mosaic elements. Two prior U.S. Pat. Nos. (4,974,073 and 5,136,390) describe a means to achieve such image blending by the use of brightness ramped overlap regions between adjacent images where the brightness adjustment is provided by special hardware interpolated between the image source and the projection systems. Where the imagery to be blended is generated by a computer, however, image content can be structured by the rendering device to support such image blending by a different technique that does not require this additional hardware.